NORWALK – The Huntington Beach boys volleyball team closed the book on a remarkable three-year run Saturday night.
The Oilers, who captured their third consecutive CIF title last week, added a third CIF Southern California Regional crown Saturday with their 25-11, 25-22, 25-21 victory over Loyola of Los Angeles in Division I final at Cerritos College.
“I thought we came out in the first set and played unbelievable,” Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said. “It is a pretty special group. It will be hard-pressed to keep this thing going, but we have eight guys returning off of this team and we’re going to keep fighting and try to keep building off the last few years.”
This was the fifth meeting between the two schools in either the CIF or regional final since 2013. The Oilers have won all five.
With the victory, the Oilers (40-0) concluded their second consecutive undefeated season. The Oilers haven’t lost a match since March 28, 2013.
They will head into next season having won 104 matches in a row. The all-time mark is 112 set by Salem High of New Hampshire.
The Oilers started this match looking like a team on a mission. They stormed out from the start, hitting .417 as a team in the first set, with just two errors. Meanwhile, Loyola hit a negative .061. The Cubs were out of timeouts with the score 14-5.
“I think they saw the way the Division II match went, and I think they wanted to put a mark on the night,” Pazanti said. “We talked about finishing what we started, and for some of these guys that was three years ago. It was pretty cool to have them come out and play that well.”
By the time the match moved to third set, it seemed a sweep was inevitable. The Huntington Beach student section sensed it as well, starting up an “Undefeated” chant.
“It is hard for me look to at it (the run) right now, because I’m still entrenched in it,” Pazanti said. “I don’t know what the superlative will be …but I like the word legendary. When it is all said and done and we look back at it 20 years from now, I don’t know if anybody will ever do this again.
“Hopefully we can keep it going. I’m not content with being done now, but at the same time, this is a pretty special group.”
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
